DN’s Running and Other Mishaps Thread

Sports & Exercise
911

So this was hard. It’s a good thing, too, because I was starting to feel invincible. Today has just been a downer for me, and I was less than careful with my blood sugar just before starting, and I think that didn’t help. Actually, my blood sugar was low all day… no matter what I ate (which I probably bolused generously for but just didn’t notice), I was cruising at 70. Basal-IQ was hitting suspend repeatedly, and there were no rebounds. This is a long explanation for how I came to be starting my run at a 213. After many, many hours at 70, I decided on a sweet potato, chicken, green beans, and a half coffee for dinner and just half-figured I wasn’t going to need the insulin. It wasn’t good thinking, and within minutes I was a 165 and rising fast. I decided on a bolus of 1.5 units just to slow it down, and I still was walking out the door at a 234. Did another unit bolus before leaving the house. At the start of the run, I was a 213… so I did another .8. I know this isn’t ideal, but that’s just how it was going this evening. I did my first incline at 5 and at 7.0, and I was already working about 2 minutes in. The incline was tough. RPE in the first piece was easily a 7. HR 180. I took my BG at the first recovery, and I was down to a 177. It was a minute into the recovery before I felt good again. Second piece was RPE of 8. HR 182. Second recovery BG was a 137. Took 2 minutes of the recovery for me to feel okay again. I decided on 20g of carbs. Third piece was RPE 8.5+ with a HR of 184. Third recovery BG was a 106. I took 20g of carbs… I wasn’t really sure on this, but with all that insulin in the beginning and with the continued drop, I figured I’d rather gamble with too many carbs than fall off the back of the treadmill. Last piece was an RPE of 9. HR 190. Every step was hard, and the last couple of seconds moved so slowly I started to worry something was wrong with time. My recovery BG was a 105, and then I tested again at the end of the cooldown at an 88.

This is the first workout in a long while that has felt like it was kicking my butt. I still know I’ve gotten stronger because even though those recoveries were harder than they have been, I was feeling excited towards the end of them that I was about to go again. That’s not how I remember recoveries… I remember sadness there at the end as the seconds ticked down. :slight_smile:

I had to hit it pretty hard with insulin as soon as I stopped because I had a feeling those carbs were going to catch up. I did 3 units via pump and was a 90 about 30 minutes later. The plan was to have a banana as soon as I was home, but I forgot… So when the drop started, it came fast but that’s just user error. Can’t be mad. Got my banana, a yogurt, and a Welch’s Fruit Snack, and got another bolus onboard to try to head off the rebound. I’ve been between 110-125 since, and I’m happy with that.

I have this feeling I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow. Not because of hip stuff but just from good old fashioned sore muscles. I worked my lower body today something serious. I think I actually asked for inclines. :upside_down_face:

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912

Good stuff today. You recovered from the high start to have decent BG. And you landed it nicely.

These inclines are tough. They work a lot of different muscles you are not used to, so you will feel it tomorrow. Rest Wednesday. Stretch well.

Thursday you have flat speed, and that will feel like absolutely nothing! Following inclines with flat speed always makes you feel faster. You will probably want to bump the Thursday intervals up. All good stuff. Good work today.

Treat yourself when you can. :grinning:
:icecream: :ice_cream: :cupcake:

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913

After Saturday’s run, after telling you I didn’t need a treat, I proceeded to treat myself from the early evening hours until Monday morning. I can skip this treat. I should skip this treat.

Question… I’ve realized that after bigger runs, my blood sugar has a tendency to drop even deep into the early morning hours. If I leave it alone, it’s the equivalent of that heavy basal we were talking about a month ago— and it means I can snack as I please, add boluses appropriately, and enjoy a nice quiet line. Is that thinking correct so far?? If so, then I’ll add the next part. I overate this weekend, and I would love not to have any room for snacking if I’m not truly hungry for it. I think today was a really hard run. Is this the kind of run that’s going to cause me to drop as the night goes on? If I’d like to skip the skittles tonight, would it be reasonable to cut back the basal? I’ve figured an 80% is enough to take off the edge. Is my understanding here right?

Thirsday’s intervals are happening in a hotel gym. I hope I don’t embarrass myself but am really glad for all my experience in public embarrassment in case I do. :grin: oh! What do you mean by “bump up” my intervals?

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914

Yes, same thing basically.

You will probably drop somewhat, but probably not as much as the longer tempo runs. Today you had only about 20 minutes of effort. Much less than some of your other hard runs. So cut back a bit, but it will probably not be as significant.

80% is probably a good ballpark.

Buy the 3rd one, you will be incredibly pissed at me for making it so easy. So go ahead and bump the speed or duration up. Whichever you feel like increasing.

915

Really?!

:heart_eyes:

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916

Except, on a strange treadmill it might feel different. The speed might not be the exact same. The surface will be much harder than you are used to. So just go by feel.

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917

Yessiree. :grin:

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918

Nicky, do you do most of your running on a treadmill?

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919

Only since buying the treadmill. :grin:. I’ve always done all of my running outside, but I got a treadmill about 6 months ago. I’ve been using it during the cold weather and with the kind of runs that require very specific paces. I think I’m getting spoiled by it though. :grimacing:

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920

Been meaning to ask you, @Eric… I told you about 2 months ago I had some bad pain under my foot just between heel and arch. It was very painful for about 4 day, gone in maybe a week and a half. I thought maybe I had stepped on something but had no recollection of it. Anyway, for the last week, it’s been warming back up again. And I haven’t stepped on anything. Maybe some kind of injury?? It’s not as painful as it was the first time and maybe it doesn’t turn into anything, but I figured I’d tell you. It does not bother me any more with running (probably even less because of the shoes) than when I’m walking around the house barefoot… I suppose I could ask the neurologist… but would hate to sound craz…ier than I sound already. :smiley:

921

Is it more painful when you first wake up and take your first steps in the morning?

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922

I don’t think so. I think it’s pretty even all day long. It does hurt with the first steps, but then it’s the same the rest of the day. Sorry. Just saw this response!

923

Wear these as much as possible. You don’t need to wear them running, but wear them in your shoes the rest of the day. Avoid going barefoot. Make sure you are stretching your calves every day. Give this a few weeks and it should be fine.

Check size before ordering.

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924

Okay. Must sleep. Have an 8:30 am appointment with the neurologist, and I would love not to sleep through it. :smiley:

So I put in about a 9 hour car ride today up to Boston. We got in early enough, and I figured I’d really enjoy the run, but it turned out not to be an easy one. I would paste the actual run here, but I’ll just tell you I DID end up adjusting it… but DOWN instead of up. I’m not terribly disappointed. I would’ve been disappointed if I had ended early, and I didn’t. Anything I did to make sure I got it done, I’m satisfied with. For today.

The run was .5 mile warm up then 4 repeats of 3 min @ 7.5, 3 min @ 8, 3 min @ 8.3, and 3 min @ 6.0. I was already feeling kind of rough about .3 miles into warm up, so I got my mind wrapped around it is what it is and decided I was going to do the best I could. My starting BG was a 106. I tested every time I hit the 3 min@ 6.0, and they were as follows:
Start 106 (nasty “glucose shot”- 16 g of carbs :nauseated_face:)
1st 96
2nd 88 (4 glucose tablets :nauseated_face:)
3rd 108
4th 91
Cool down 77

RPE was kind of like 7.sick and 8.death. It wasn’t my treadmill, I couldn’t get the buttons to work right (it actually took me almost a full minute to get myself back to the first recovery because the button wouldn’t work, and there was no fan. That was the worst part. My head felt hot, and I’m used to my fan on my treadmill. They had the heat cranking in the gym, and I was just too hot. Oh, and then around halfway through the 3rd set, a woman came around to clean, and the smell of chemical was so strong, I felt like I was going to be sick.

I said I was going to tell you how it went and then got distracted. Those were my BGs, and my actual paces were a little short from what you wanted. My warm up and first set were on point. Second set, on point. Then the third set, I just felt terrible. I ended up doing 3 min @ 7.5, 3 min @ 8.0, and 3 min @ 8.2. When I tested after this set, my BG came up as a 204, but after getting an error on the next strip, it was a 108. I think that was just sugar on my fingers. :roll_eyes:

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925

Okay, we can go over this a bit when you are awake. No worries, you pushed through and got it done.

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926

So I was falling asleep last night as I was writing up my run. :roll_eyes: I’ll go clean that up in a second. I just wanted to let you know it was my fourth set I kind of just got myself through by slowing stuff down a little bit. I went with 7.3, 7.8, and 8.2. Struggling. But it made me feel even happier that I finished, even if with scraps.

Anyway. I’ll go clean up my sleep posts and see if I left any out elsewhere. :woman_facepalming:

On my way home. :sunglasses:

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927

The speed of the treadmill you were on may have been calibrated differently than yours at home. So it’s fine to go by RPE when you are on a strange treadmill. Cheer up. You got it done! :grinning:

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928

Oh, I’m cheered. I didn’t die during the workout or fall off the back of the treadmill in a crowded gym (guy next to me kept looking over, and I think between my breathing, my meter bracelet, and my windsprint, he was scared), AND I survived a crazy bad dinner and breakfast. Crazy bad. But I never went above a 220 (if that).

All cheered. :yum:

Oh, and I’d like to tell you about the doc visit. 2 hours… That’s a lot of talking. And we talked cysts, neuropathy, and running, and I’m coming home with a simple plan on how to follow up on the tailbone issues. The best part is that when he happened to mention posture in running as a possible contributing factor to the increased tailbone pain lately, it didn’t go in one ear and out the other. He didn’t know that was my posture and was only thinking out loud, but having just gone for that gait analysis, I knew.

I’m a little prone to car sickness and am really pressing my luck right now. I’ll tell you all about it when I get home. :blush:

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929

Home. :smiley:

I did not get to run today. That happened. But that is the only bad news on the day (which means I should probably go to sleep right now so as not to challenge the universe)…

I’m in a very good mood. It was a long ride home, and there was no run, but my appointment was worth the 18 hours in the car since yesterday morning. I went to see the neurologist today, and I do travel to Boston to do that. Between my history of Syringomyelia, neuropathy, and Tarlov Cysts… and ongoing symptoms of them all… I have no problems justifying the effort. Unfortunately, my regular doctor called out today, so I actually didn’t get to see him, but the doctor I did see was great, and the evaluation and consultation was probably almost an hour and a half— so satisfyingly thorough.

This is a diabetes site, and I guess it would be appropriate to talk of my neuropathy news (which was good stuff), but I’d really like to talk about the tailbone cysts, since those have been on my mind since the hip pain started. I brought up all of my disks for the doctor to review, and I told him about the two episodes of severe hip pain I’ve experienced in the last year or year and a half. I then told him that in the last month or two, my tailbone has begun to ache again with sitting. I haven’t felt this since before getting Fibrin Glue Injections in 2008. Even though these cysts do not appear to be causing neurogenic symptoms throughout my legs, as was evident by my strength during the evalution, I still wanted to ask if there could be any chance the increased speed and distance in running could be, in any way, contributing to the new pain. His answer started with him explaining to me the positioning in running, and how runners have a tendency to lean forward, therefore making space in that sacral area. In general, he said, running probably would NOT irritate them as it actually creates a little space around them. Then he said that some people who run more upright might experience the opposite. These people, he went on, have a tendency to run with straight legs… and this is ME. If it had not been for the fact I had gone to the gait analysis recently, I would not have paid any attention to what he was saying. I never realized this was how I ran, but the guy doing my gait analysis gave such a detailed description that I fully understood what the neurologist was saying today, and I know it’s what I’m doing. I’m running faster and longer, and although I do try, it’s very hard for me to get myself in the right position. I have been doing all of the exercises I learned at the gait analysis… except one. And I was skipping that one because it was very hard to do and very unpleasant, and I think I better start. It was the one most geared toward strengthening the core, and I think it’s that core instability that makes it so difficult for me to not run like I’m on stilts. :smiley:

Had a few things to say it seems. Sorry. My hips are hanging in there, and I think increasing my cadence has played a HUGE part in that. Now I have tailbone pain with sitting and a couple of large cysts there on the end, and I think focusing on the next part again might have another positive effect. I’m also going to have another MRI done locally, and then my neurologist wants me to just have them filled again with glue.

That’s good stuff. Oh! And I won’t go into detail about the Diabetic Neuropathy stuff, but I will say I told him I’d seen a little improvement since our last visit, and that I thought my drop in a1c had probably helped. He asked what it was, and I told him a 5.3. He was beaming. He said a 5.3 was perfect, and I should do what I can to stay down in that range. Above a 6 can just cause problems with symptoms, and everything gets worse as it goes up. With all of the discussion about what’s a good a1c, it was nice to wrap up an appointment this detailed with confirmation that, for me, this number was good, and that I should continue to keep it down. He was not concerned with it being too low. He was more concerned with symptom maintenance. For now, I agree.

Another post for the record books. Wow. And tomorrow I run.

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930

Sounds like a great doctor! And great a1c, too! Definitely worth the trip, but man, that is a long drive! Have a great run tomorrow!

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